London Will Be Europe’s Main Tech Hub Says Minister

There is something paradoxical about the U.K. government minister responsible for driving the country’s hi-tech initiatives is a Lord and takes his title from a tiny village in the south of the country.

Not much goes on in Hurstpierpoint. The local lifeboat rescue service is having a cream tea garden party this month. Next month the Paws & Claws Animal Rescue Service is hosting their annual open day. It is a world away from the east London heart of the U.K.’s nascent start up hub.

But Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint, the former Group Chairman of HSBC Holdings, is minister of state for trade and investment and as such initiatives such as the east London Tech City fall under his ministerial portfolio.

The U.K. government has a lot riding on the Tech City initiative, launched with great fanfare by the Prime Minister, David Cameron, last year. But its goals remain slightly fuzzy and the government doesn’t seem clear as to what it wants out of it. However, Lord Green is clear about one thing. It was not designed to compete with Silicon Valley.

“What I think we can reasonably expect is that London will be the leading hub for Europe,” he said. But then, perhaps realizing making such claims is to give political hostage, he quickly rowed back: “Not the only one…a leading hub.”

When the Tech City initiative was launched there was some criticism that the government was simply trying to cash in on existing success. The area, known only semi-ironically as “Silicon Roundabout”, was already emerging as a start up hub. The government’s plans sweep it in along with other areas of east London to form their newly-born “Tech City”.

“I don’t think one should get too hung up on the exact geography. People had discovered it before the Prime Minister focused on it. He was noting that it had already started to get some momentum and indeed over the last two to three years you have gone from something like 15 companies identified as being in that region to some 250.”

If the area was doing so well without government help, what was his role?

“One of the challenges as we seek to get the Tech City cluster through tipping point into a significant technology force in the context of the European economy is to ensure that venture capital focuses on the area. One of the things we need to do is simply to make them aware of what is going on. There are some surprisingly physical facts that start to come into play. It is a 10 hour flying time from San Francisco to here; as someone said “that is a long way to go for a lunch.”

So apart from having lunch with VCs, what else does Lord Green propose?

“We are not waving magic wands. At the end of the day venture capital companies have to make their own decisions. The view that we have is that this is a young start up of a technology hub. There is a lot of momentum to it, but actually it needs some promotion, it needs some showcasing, it needs some support. I think it is the government’s job to provide that.”

If the government is investing time and money in the area, it must have some idea of what it wants from this, and some idea of what success looks like. As it turns out, not really.

“If you want specific metrics on it, that sounds too specific. This is a phenomenon that does not lead to easy definitions.”

But if pushed, what would he say? What would count as a success?

“Significantly more companies active in and around that area over the next three to four years and with the general consensus among the commentary on technological innovation saying Britain is a real hub for this and the London area is leading. That would count as success.”

It is easy to be cynical about any government’s plans, and the lack of clear objectives makes it easy for this administration to claim a win and walk away whenever it likes. But to be fair this government, probably more than any previous U.K. administration, has taken a strong position in realizing the importance of the entrepreneurial economy, and has implemented real steps in its first budget to help investors and entrepreneurs. The test for the government will be when times get even tougher as their savings agenda bites. Will Lord Green go back to the tea parties, or will he continue to champion Tech City?

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Tech Europe covers Europe’s technology leaders, their companies, and the people and industries that support them — and their ideas. The blog is edited by Ben Rooney, with contributions from The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires.